The well-decorated wooden tavern was silent save for the scrubbing of towels and the swishing of a mop across the floor.
"Hey Boss, what should we do with this?" A young woman called out, her voice sickeningly sweet. She held up an enormous sword, bigger than her own body, sheathed in an ornate blue and orange scabbard.
A man with purple skin and black tattoos dotting his screen, brushed curly hair from his eyes and looked at the ornate sword.
"Looks like a hero's sword," He stated, his voice deep and lazy, "Bring it closer, Nana."
Nana heaved the heavy sword across the tavern and sat it on the countertop the man stood behind.
"Yeah, definitely a hero candidate's sword. You served that table, right? Did you see who it belonged to?"
Nana tapped her chin, "Hmm, now that I think about it…some young, scrawny kid had it propped up next to him. Maybe it was hand-me-down or something."
"A hero's sword?" An excited voice called out from the kitchen behind them. A young man with a mohawk and little other hair bolted out of the kitchen and behind the counter, next to the purple-skinned man.
He rubbed his hand across the scabbard reverently, "This isn't a hand-me-down. The hero arms are rare, priceless artifacts given to hero candidates after months or years of rigorous training. They're property of the state, not family heirlooms you can pass around willy-nilly."
Nana smirked deviously, "Aren't you a hero candidate, Luca? Where's your hero weapon?"
Luca scratched his mohawk and stared at her, "You seriously think I'd carry that thing to work with me so someone could steal it while I'm busy? I only take it with me when I'm dungeon diving; I have another weapon I carry for day to day use."
The purple-skinned man chuckled and shook his head, "Well, whatever the case is, whether or not it's a hero sword, the owner will probably come back soon looking for it. Put it in the supply closet for now, Nana."
Nana nodded her head eagerly and lugged the sword behind the bar.
Luca turned to the purple-skinned man and appraised him. After a while, his eyes fixed onto the man's ivory white horns.
"Theo, I've been meaning to ask you this ever since you hired me last month. I didn't want to be rude but…" Luca's voice trailed off.
Theo leaned against the counter and glanced at him, his eyebrows raised slightly, "What is it? Spit it out."
Luca turned his gaze away from him, "Why is your skin purple?"
Theo barely held back a chuckle, "Seriously? You've been working with me for this long and you don't have any guesses?"
Luca's face turned red with embarrassment, "D-don't make fun of me! I thought it was a skin condition or something, but Nana laughed at me when I said it earlier today!"
Theo's face became deadly serious and he stared into Luca's eyes, "I'll tell you why, Luca. But you have to promise not to overreact. Can you do that?"
Luca nodded his head slowly.
Theo let out a deep sigh, "Okay. My skin is purple, I have black symbols on my skin and white horns because I'm a daemon. I originated from the monster world, and like most other monsters, I wasn't born. I was formed from a black miasma."
Luca took a shuddering step back, "You…you're a demon?"
Theo shook his head, "No, no. A daemon. A humanoid monster with purple skin. A demon is the title for the high ranking monsters."
Luca stared at him, his face cycling through a myriad of emotions - fear, awe, and a slight amount of anger, "Does Nana know about this?"
"Duh," She called out as she reentered the room, "Not everyone is an idiot meathead like you, Luca. I'm surprised they let people so stupid be hero candidates."
Luca looked between the two of them, before focusing his eyes onto Nana, "How did you—"
"For one, his skin is purple, duh," She began counting on her hands, "Second, he has huge horns on his head, duh. Even if you were doubting the skin color, how did the horns not give it away?"
Luca hit his hand on the counter defensively, "W-we get people in here from foreign lands all the time wearing weird jewelry or having strange alterations to their body! Like that lady with jewels embedded in her skin who only orders orange juice!"
Theo nodded his head and monotonously stated, "I like that lady. She's a good tipper."
Nana slapped her palm to her forehead and groaned, "Ugh, fine. Even if those obvious clues didn't give it away, then you can't tell me you haven't noticed the boss never takes breaks, he stands behind the bar all day, and will even cook the food and serve the customers by himself while we're on break."
Luca looked away and twiddled his thumbs. His volume dropped to a whisper, "I thought he was just a really dedicated worker…"
Nana groaned louder and walked back to the dining room, "There's no reasoning with this level of idiot."
"I don't know if he's an idiot, Nana," Theo chimed in, "Naïve, maybe, but I appreciate his willingness to see the best in people and not immediately jump to the worst possible assumption. Most humans who see me immediately think I'm some dangerous monster out to harm them, before I even open my mouth or do anything. I think we need more people like Luca."
Nana's cheeks turned bright red, and she turned away from Theo, "R-right…you're right…we need more people like Luca…"
Theo turned to Luca, "Luca, you need to be careful too, though. While I think your naivety and positive outlook are wonderful traits, if you're going to dive deeper and deeper into that dungeon, there will be monsters who will try to use those traits to manipulate or harm you. Always scrutinize every situation, at least a little bit."
Luca nodded his head sheepishly and turned away from Theo. His eyes locked onto Nana, whose cheeks were still red and eyes still fixed on Theo.
Luca pointed and laughed at her. Nana grabbed a nearby broom and ran her hand across it. She chanted to herself, and a ball of fire appeared at the end of the broom. Theo walked over to her and grabbed the end of the broom, stifling the fire.
"Can you please not blow Luca up in here again?" Theo asked calmly.
Nana looked past Theo, right at Luca, "Why not? He can take it."
Theo sighed, "I don't think the bar can."
He easily wrested the broom from her and set it against the counter.
"Good work today, you two. Especially you, Nana. I appreciate you stepping up since Simi wasn't here today."
Nana blushed once again, "Anytime boss."
"You two can head on out. I'm going to grab something from home and finish cleaning up. I'll see you two tomorrow, and I'll make sure Simi is here so we won't have to work so hard."
Nana and Luca ambled over to the supply closet and grabbed their things, still exchanging glances at one another.
Theo remained standing behind the bar, his chin on his palm, staring off into the distance.
"Are you okay, boss?" Nana asked, a tinge of concern in her voice.
Theo snapped out of his trance and turned to her with a smile, "I'm fine, Nana, thanks for asking. Just…still getting used to all this. Living in the human world, away from the chaos and strife of the monster world."
"I think you're doing an excellent job! All the patrons love you, and you serve the best drinks around!" Nana put her thumb up towards him.
Theo grinned wider and put his thumb up back at her. As Nana and Luca exited the tavern, Theo returned to staring off into space.
"I wonder," He thought to himself, "Am I really doing a good job? This place has been doing well financially, but it seems like every other aspect of my life is hanging on by a thread."
a
Theo stormed out of the tavern and walked down the mostly empty city streets. His heavy boots clacked against the narrow cobblestone road. He ignored the shadows cast by the large brick buildings and walked quickly toward the housing district.
After a few minutes, he stopped in front of the door of a small wooden shack, surrounded by other similar looking buildings. He reached a hand into his tunic pocket and pulled out a single rusty key. He unlocked the door to the shack and threw it open.
He beelined to the single bedroom in the shack, not even bothering to close the door behind him.
Theo entered the darkened bedroom and exhaled. He held his palm up and chanted to himself for a few seconds. After a short while, a ball of brilliant multicolored energy formed and floated lazily in the air.
The ball illuminated the entire room. A dresser with several faded pictures on it, clothes scattered across the floor and a simple wooden bed. On the bed laid an older woman, with distinct and noticeable wrinkles, sleeping peacefully with a smile on her face.
Theo looked down at the woman, his face a mix of anger and melancholy.
"Am I doing well, master?" He asked aloud. There was no answer, her face did not move even slightly.
Theo reached down and put his hand on her heart, feeling it beat softly under his palm.
"Don't worry master," Theo muttered to himself, "I'm going to wake you up soon, so you can tell me yourself."